Hamburg, Germany: Thursday evening saw the premiere for the binge.watch awards 2016, the first creative festival awards in Europe for outstanding work in virtual reality, mixed reality and 360° video.

The awards show took place in front of an eclectic enthusiastic crowd in the binge.watch VR lounge at Klubhaus St. Pauli on Hamburg’s infamous Reeperbahn. The event was also streamed live in 360° and is still available on YouTube.

“We are humbled by response we have gotten from the creative community for this very first virtual reality festival in Europe,” stated binge.watch co-founder Per Sascha Zech. “Our heartfelt thanks go out to the creators for trusting us with their awesome work and for taking up the challenge! We can’t wait to experience, what they come up with next!”

Submissions in this category offered a broad range from nature simulations to survival horror to casual mini games. Lucid Trips stood out amongst the submissions through its innovative use of interaction devices and a beautifully designed and crafted world that invites to explore.

Home VR Spacewalk was by far the most immersive experience among all submissions in the festival. It’s impeccable execution seamlessly pulls you into your virtual body, creating a truly intense and mind boggling, body shaking experience.The feeling of presence is enhanced by the interaction with your hands turning physical limitations of the VR technology into features and creating a very convincing reality.

This category was all about giving the audience the possibility to be in very close and intimate proximity to artists and performers, whether it was concerts, music videos or visual experiments. The jury decided to give the award to the submission which focused on the musical experience without getting lost or overwhelmed with technical gimmicks.Chris Milk’s U2 – Song for Someone uses VR to transport the core idea of music. To unite and inspire all people around the world.

best video experience – presented by Riverside Entertainment

Moderat “Reminder” by Sehsucht

360° video is the likely entry gate for VR. In this category the jury saw how people were experimenting with this new technology. Some producers made first steps – like putting a camera in an unseen perspective. But one video stood out.Moderat “Reminder” is loaded with the smell of blood & tears the team put into this experience, they really went the extra mile. They invented a fully immersive new world!

best documentary experience

Walking New York by JR, Chris Milk, Zach Richter

The jury struggled with this category, because the quality level of the submissions was overwelmingly high. In the end, they selected the experience that was not only very well executed but also has a strong focus on storytelling and using the possibilities of VR very effectively to convey the message and feel presence in the story.They explicitly honors the passion of this filmmaker and team, which truly shows in every goose bump on the skin while watching this exceptional piece of work.

the binge.watch game-changer award

SoundStage by Logan Olsen

Gamechanger! What a category name. Can you feel the pressure?In this category the jury had stunning projects of all kinds. The jury ended up honoring SoundStage by Logan Olsen, because it is much more than a singular experience. SoundStage enables people to be creative.With this application, it doesn’t matter where you are, you can transform every room into a creative studio. This concept is an outlook on the future of VR, it gives us clear direction how creative collaboration in VR could look like.

Jakob Kriwat, creative lead at Zoo, Google’s European marketing think tank. With a background in design, communications and marketing, Jakob will be able to marry aesthetic and commercial perspectives on the awards.

Christoph Roth, a 16 year veteran of VFX production in the world of cinematography and art. Christoph has produced VFX on standout films like A Most Wanted Man and Guardians Of The Galaxy. With his distinguished resumé, it’s clear Christoph will be turning a keen artistic eye to the submissions.

Christopher Lenz, a senior producer at SEHSUCHT Berlin and multi-disciplinary creative. Christopher has experience producing film, apps, games (Final Fantasy XI) and VR content (Moderat’s groundbreaking Reminder) in Germany, the US and Japan. As such, he is well poised to integrate the different elements across award categories.

binge.watch 2016 is the forum where creators, producers, technologists, marketers and entrepreneurs will discuss creativity and the future of the VR industry. binge.watch is part of the Reeperbahn Festival, a highlight of the global entertainment industry calendar. Reeperbahn Festival will bring a dazzling variety of emerging talent across art, film, literature and music to Hamburg from September 21st to 24th.